Conjugate and Decline
by willshakespeare-immortalbard
Summary: Contains spoliers for "The Sorceress" A "what if" fic about Will after the conjugation. What if he'd been in a worse state? Please read/review! Rated T for later, maybe, descriptive pain, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N—Okay, so this is a new idea I got. Contains SPOILERS for **_**The **_**Sorceress, by Michael Scott. But first things first…**

**Disclaimer: Michael Scott owns everything! I own nothing. Nothing…nothing…**

**Summary: A **_**what if?**_** story. What if Will had been more exhausted by the conjugation? **

**P.S. Anyone get the Latin pun?**

**Please read/review!**

**Conjugate and Decline**

Palamedes wasn't ready for the sudden halt. Will stopped mid-sentence, and his drain on Palamedes' aura ended like a wire shorting out. The sudden rush of power as his aura flooded back into his body made Palamedes stagger, and for a split half-second he couldn't see—couldn't hear—he could literally taste the cloves and the lemon and the bitter peppermint. His vision cleared and he saw Will crumple, his hands slipping from the rim of the barrel as he fell towards the ground. Palamedes spun sideways, catching Will, and he braced himself for the draw on his aura.

It never came.

"Will…?" Palamedes sank slowly to the ground, trying not to jostle Will. "Will?"

The Bard whimpered softly, shifting ever so slightly as Palamedes settled him.

"More?" he murmured, struggling to open his eyes. Palamedes felt Will's aura spark, and he grabbed the Shakespeare's shoulders, nearly shaking him in his fear.

"No!" he snapped, his voice loud and taut. "No, no more. Enough. You've done enough!"

Will's glazed eyes cleared for a moment, and he nodded his understanding before slumping against Palamedes, unconscious.

His Awakened senses picked up the twins' shocked gasp, and he heard the door creak open a little more as one of them—Sophie, judging by the faint odor of vanilla—stepped out.

"Get back in the car, girl!" Flamel snapped, stepping forward to shove her back towards the taxi. "We'll be there in just a moment."

"No, we won't," Palamedes said, standing, carefully gathering Will into his arms. He tried to ignore the way Will's limp form offered no resistance—_millions of limp bodies, all limp as he held them, weeping over friends and family and fellow knights_—

Palamedes shoved the past aside and looked down at Will, searching for a glimmer of hope. Will's pale features offered none.

The Alchemyst's face turned hard as he demanded, "And why not?"

"We're not going to Stonehenge," Palamedes answered, turning back towards the shack. "We're not going anywhere." He called his aura to life, mentally feeding it into Will's prone form.

It rebounded back inside of him, making his stomach twist, rebuffed by Will's body.

_Inert immortals, frozen, comatose, unable to recharge their auras, bodies refusing to accept the aid of another…immortals, lost forever…trapped by their dying auras…_

His horror made him stumble, and he crashed to his knees—felt Josh take Will from his arms—

He buried his face in his hands and wept.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N-I don't own this. Micahel Scott does.**

**Many thanks to cedargirl, who reviewed and requested more. This is for you!**

**Also, I want to apologize. Part of this bears a little resemblance to Arya's fighting of the poison in the _Eragon_ book. So some of this might seem a little familiar at first...sorry. **

**Please read/review!**

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><p><em>"Will? Will, come on, wake up."<em>

Will's head ached, and his whole body burned as if with poison. His blood felt like it was boiling in his veins, and his mouth was filled with the interesting mix of lemon, cloves, and mint. It made him stomach twist and knot, and he wanted to vomit.

His hand was suddenly pressed in a vise, and he moaned, trying to pull his hand away.

_"Will!"_

The vise squeezed tighter, and he whimpered, unable to make a louder sound. White dots bounced around his vision, and he felt unconsciousness pressing in around him. The smell of cloves and mint grew stronger, and he couldn't breathe, his horror overwhelming him. _No,_ his mind cried, _No. Please no!_ He pushed away the wave of aura that he felt leaking into him, and the effort stole his last vestiges of strength. The dots blinked faster and faster, merging into a white glare that made his head scream, his temples throb. He lost control of consciousness.

Palamedes felt Will's hand go limp in his, and the few signs of life that the Bard had shown faded. The smell of lemon, briefly sharp and tangy, lessened, suffusing in the air until it was barely noticeable. Flamel sat back on his heels, drained and tired, the wrinkles on his face even more evident. He shook his head.

"I thought he was coming to," the Alchemyst murmured, "but apparently not. Yet he's alive, which is good news."

Palamedes couldn't keep back the bitter words. "He's alive, but what good is that if he's in a coma for the rest of his life?"

Sophie gasped, and looked unhappily at Will, lying still on the couch.

"Is that what will happen?" she asked.

Palamedes nodded sharply, and felt tears bite at his eyes. "He's too weak to recharge his own aura. His body's shutting down to keep himself from using any more of his aura. But that makes it where his body won't accept another aura, so I can't even give him any of mine."

Sophie stepped forward, silver lines running along her finger.

"Maybe if I tried?"

"No!" Flamel snapped. "You've lost too much aura already, and his aura might taint yours."

"Taint it?" Josh asked, confused.

Flamel sighed, and looked at Palamedes. "You've made the wrong diagnosis, I'm afraid, Saracen Knight. This is a purposeful rejection." He sighed. "It's _paralystys_."

Josh and Sophie watched in horror as the Saracen Knight surged to his feet, dropping Shakespeare's limp hand.

"What have you done?" he demanded, towering over Flamel, his dark eyes smoldering with hatred.

Flamel stood slowly, using the arm of the couch for support, and he looked at the Saracen Knight, regret in his pale eyes.

"It was not done intentionally."

"You should have known! Should have guessed! You have to have! You put him in danger!"

"I had no choice! We needed a way to keep the Wild Hunt at bay, and he couldn't have performed it without me."

"Then you should have warned us!"

"And you both would have shied away from the risk."

"So you decided to put him in danger?" Palamedes clenched his large fists, and Josh stepped between Flamel and the knight, afraid that Palamedes would attack.

"What's _paralystys_?" he asked, eying Palamedes' fists warily.

"_Paralystys_ is a disease found only in dying immortals," Palamedes explained stiffly. "It's passed around by aura. When Will performed the conjugation, he received a substantial portion of Flamel's aura."

"And contracted the disease," Sophie finished. Images were flickering through her brain—fevered immortals, all succumbing slowly—dying—very few got the disease, because of its rarity—practically no one survived.

She looked over at Will again, and tears bit at her eyes as she pictured the illness taking over him.

She and Palamedes wept together, as the Saracen Knight sank into his seat, leaning his head on the arm of the couch, clutching his friend's hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N-I don't own this. Michael Scott does. **

**Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/ favs, everyone! It means a lot to me!**

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><p><em>Paralystys...<em>Palamedes was shaking. He couldn't drive, and the part of him that drove a taxi for a living knew it—told him to stop—get off the road—let someone else drive—

But he couldn't. He had to do something. He couldn't sit there, with Will dying in the backseat.

_Dying..._he could literally feel Will weakening, could actually feel the hummingbird rapidity of the Bard's heartbeat.

It made it hard to breathe.

_Breathe..._was Will breathing? He slammed on the brakes in the center of the intersection and spun around, Will's name choking him.

"He's alive. Drive." The boy's voice was hard and emotionless, but Palamedes could see understanding in his blue eyes. It seemed to him that in those eyes he saw the shimmer of a silver aura, inhaled the scent of fresh vanilla, and felt the tearing of a terror-stricken heart, the reverberation of a silent scream. The boy knew what it was like, to see a dear one limp and helpless. The boy knew what it was like, to have to do something, just to know that you were not sitting still and letting them die. The boy knew that Palamedes should not be driving, but he let him drive because he knew that Palamedes had to do something.

"_Drive!_" the girl shrieked suddenly as red and blue lights illuminated the interior of the car. The red glow gave Will's pale face the briefest semblance of life. Palamedes hit the accelerator and spun out of the intersection, not even really knowing exactly where he was going.

The hours passed, slowly, tiredly.

"Turn left here," Flamel muttered softly.

"What?" Palamedes snapped, spinning to face the Alchemyst. "Why?"

"Because there is someone I know who can help William. Turn left here."


End file.
